Wyatt (Lane Brothers #1)

by Kristina Weaver

  A thwack to my ass shuts me up before he tosses me onto a bed and stands over me glaring.

  A screech leaves me and I scramble to the headboard before looking around. The place is a palace, a freaking designer’s dream of dark blues and blacks, and the damn bed is bigger than a normal king.

  Wyatt, I notice, is still glowering, fit to peel the skin off me as he stands beside the bed with his hands on his hips.

  “You’re being a real pain in the ass, Ellie. We’re here to sleep, that’s it, so stop being melodramatic! Now lie your ass down and give me your left wrist.”

  A drawer scrapes open and he pulls out a pair of lined cuffs that make me think of the set I once bought a friend as a gag gift.

  “No.”

  That sets him off and he falls on me as I kick and scream, settling so much of his weight on me that I’m pinned and unable to move as I struggle for breath.

  When the cuff snaps closed around my wrist, I’m almost certain he’s grinning, but he rolls off and lies down beside me without another word.

  “Why?”

  I’m getting too predictable and even I know it. I watch him roll his eyes.

  “I told you already. I want you, so I took you. No, I am not going to hurt you. No, I am not lying. You’re my girl, Ellie, and killing you would be stupid when I plan to marry you and put my six babies in your belly. Go to sleep.”

  Speechless is not an accurate description for the way I feel, and by the time I’m able to speak, the oaf is fast asleep and snoring beside me.

  “Stupid pig. Lying ignoramus.”

  “I can hear you and it’s hurting my delicate feelings that you think so poorly of your man, Ellie,” he mumbles seconds later, his tone derisive and amused. “Settle your ass down, now, and go to sleep before I lose control and fuck you. A man can only take so much lip before he loses it, and your constant griping is giving me a boner.”

  Well!

  I settle my ass down the moment I get a look at the bulge tenting his jeans and lie awake…well I try, but for some reason my traitorous eyes drift shut and I’m out like a light.

  ***

  Wyatt

  She’s so damn cute, it’s a struggle not to rip her clothes off and just fall on her like a ravening beast. It’s true; her mouthing off at me, a man who’s used to control and obedience, is giving my already quaking dick a hard time of things.

  Doesn’t she realize that I’m about ready to snap and take what I want? Sitting on the sofa that long with her sweet scent in my nose was torture, and only her apparent fear was able to keep me at bay.

  I don’t want to stake my claim on a woman who’s frightened of me, but unfortunately for my baby, my dick knows no scruples and has been yowling his displeasure loud enough that it was a struggle not to pull her cowering form into my lap for some loving attention.

  The good old boy wants in despite my protestations and urgings that she needs. He, on the other hand, doesn’t care that much about feeling anything other than the snug warmth hidden between her thighs.

  And the lippy baggage isn’t making it easy, either. Damned woman and her bravado is such a turn-on that I can barely think straight right now.

  When she finally drops off to sleep and snuggles closer as if seeking my warmth, I smile darkly and pull her into my side, loving the soft weight and heat as her breasts mash into me.

  I won’t go there yet simply because this is for keeps, not a quick round to satisfy my urges before I move on. Ellie is mine; I knew it the minute I ordered that tail on her and her file landed on my desk.

  Now that I have her close and in my care, I feel somewhat whole, but it still doesn’t negate the need to bind her to me and keep her where she belongs.

  And I need to do it before its time to go home and introduce her to the family, because I know that as soon as she finds out who I am, she’ll be spitting fury my way.

  And then she’ll run.

  I can’t have that, and not just because she’s mine. She’d also be in too much danger. See, there are those who would see her pay for a crime she didn’t commit, a crime that I am responsible for, and I won’t have her suffering another minute. Especially not because of me.

  Those actions had been necessary, and they all know it even if they won’t agree. I’d only done what was right and put down a rabid dog.

  All they see is that I killed him. They don’t acknowledge his crimes or the fact that he was crazier than a feral mutt.

  “Oh, baby girl, you just have no idea.”

  The things I will do for this girl scare me, and that was before I got a good look at her and learned about everything she was. If I killed then, I can only imagine the lengths I’d go to to protect her now.

  Protecting her from myself and others is a man’s job but how do I protect my broke little bird from herself and the stubbornness she’s displayed these last years?

  The answer is simple, I do whatever is necessary even if I have to drag her back into life by her hair.

  My phone chirps silently in my pocket, and I dig it out to see one of the terrible twos calling.

  “Miah.”

  “We got something, bro, and you aren’t going to like it one bit. Seems Jerry’s been putting out feelers for your girl, and we caught him meeting with a shady character, handing over a fat envelope. Two guesses what he’s doing,” Jeremiah growls.

  My brothers, Jeremiah and Jared, are twins and crazy as a hopping toad. Being only twenty-eight to my thirty-three, I’ve had the privilege of being the ringleader for most of our exploits, but I know that they only follow as far as they want me to lead and will go nasty on anyone if they deem it necessary to make a go for Ellie.

  “Hit?” I ask, feeling my muscles tense.

  It’s the only explanation for a fat wad of cash and a secret meeting, and considering the stiffy these freaks have for my baby, it’s the only answer I can come up with.

  If it’s true, then my timeline has shrunk considerably. This place is great and has good security, but good isn’t enough. Ellie deserves the best, and for us, that’s home, a huge plantation house in the middle of a few hundred acres in New Orleans.

  With all the heat Dad has going to protect Ma and any woman who comes into the family, it’s the only place I want her to be. But only when she’s ready for that, and right now that isn’t possible.

  “Yup. Jared is going to take care of the brawn, no worries, but I’m not convinced they won’t bring someone else in and soon, so you’re going to have to step things up. How’s little sis doing?”

  That’s the thing about my family; they already consider Ellie one of ours and would go to bat for her in a heartbeat. Miah and Jared already consider her to be their sister, so chances are if things get worse, they’ll leave a blood trail to the next victim.

  That’s their way of protecting Ellie. Ma and I can’t blame them. I’m feeling that primal urge, myself, only stronger because she’s mine.

  “Okay, so far. She’s been cussing me out all afternoon till I finally just put us to bed early. At least she’s not crying yet.”

  He snorts and sighs loudly.

  “Tell her everything, man. Once she knows she’ll be easier to handle.”

  “No. I won’t risk that, Miah, I already told you. If she finds out, I run the risk of losing her forever, and I can’t have that. Maybe if she loves me, she’ll understand and forgive me for my lies, but…”

  “I hear ya, brother, just don’t mess this up. I got her some of those bags Ma likes so much for Christmas, and I can’t wait to see her face.”

  At this rate, she’ll be spoiled rotten. Why not? She deserves all the happiness we can give her.

  “Okay. Keep me posted, and, Miah, for God’s sake, do not mess this up and get your fool asses thrown in prison. Ma would skin us all alive,” I warn, turning my head down to look at Ellie.

  She’s got her head on my chest, one arm lying over my torso, and a leg snuggled between mine. So gorgeous and mine. All mine from now till
the day I draw my last breath.

  “No guarantees. Get your old ass back to sleep, then, and give my sis a kiss for me.”

  We say good-bye and I shove my phone under the mattress just in case she lays eyes on it. A little shuffling so she’s lying on her side and pressing her ass against my crotch and I finally settle down enough to close my eyes.

  This new development is big, and Miah is right; I’ll have to step it up a lot if I want to get Ellie behind closed gates and into my family home where she’ll be safe.

  The only way to do that is to tell her everything. I won’t—not yet—so, instead, I start planning. The brothers will be onboard, and I know Ma would keep her lips shut if I asked—Dad, too. It’s just a matter of keeping Ellie shut in and keeping the others shut out that poses a problem.

  They’ll meet soon, I know. I’ve planned for it, but not till I have my ring on her finger and enough evidence to eliminate the threat they’ve become.

  Oh, and I fully intend to impregnate my girl so that she’ll be tied to me by more than the pleasure I plan to give her and a piece of paper that means less than the ink it’s signed with.

  I know Ellie and that stubborn streak of hers, and she’ll bolt no matter how much she loves me. So I need these ties first, and there’s only one way to get it.

  With that in mind, I do something I would consider vile in any other circumstances and unsnap the button of her jeans, letting the zipper down slowly.

  When all she does is snuffle and snuggle closer into my front, I slip my hand into her panties and start searching her out. She’s smooth, warm, and perfect when my fingers slip through her slit, bypassing the fat lips I’m dying to see and taste.

  Once I find the hard kernel of pleasure nestled in her folds, I start rubbing in soft, slow circles, my touch feather light and achingly drawn out so as not to wake her.

  It hurts to touch her so intimately with my sex so stiff and pained when all I want is to strip her, roll her over, and lick every crevice.

  I want her pleasure drunk in her sleep and humping my hand to climax. That way, when she wakes in the morning with dreams of pleasure and the wetness in her panties, she’ll be so off-balance that I can launch a full attack on her defences.

  Her hips start bumping and she sighs long and deep, still fast asleep and hopefully dreaming of me as her sex strains for release. My thumb stays on her button as my fingers slip lower, and I growl out a curse when her opening contracts and sucks at my fingertip.

  So warm and moistening quickly!

  “Uhhm.”

  Yes, baby, that’s it, get yourself off on my hand, I snarl silently when she bares down to take my finger to the first knuckle inside her walls. A flood of wetness rushes forth to meet my touch, and I grit my teeth so as not to do something I’ll only regret later.

  Ellie is lost in her dreamy quest for fulfilment, and I have to wrestle my beast back when she moves harder, her clenching around my digit a torture to my dick.

  When I speed up my thumb where it hits her nub and use just the tip of my finger to tickle just inside her sex, sending her into an intense orgasm, it physically hurts to pull back and zip her jeans up before she can awaken and know what’s going on.

  She’s still sleeping peacefully, her face a display of fulfilment when I guiltily take my erection out and start stroking slowly.

  By the time I’ve brought myself off beside her unaware form, I’m covered in my own cum and hornier than I was before.

  Shit. Ellie better get with it quick, or I’m afraid things will get ugly soon.

  Chapter Four

  Ellie

  I feel weird and absolutely mortified when I stretch awake and blink my eyes open the next morning. I dreamed about my captor all night long, and that’s saying a lot because we retired in the late afternoon, which means I spent a good twelve hours, if the clock beside the bed is right, having dirty dreams about the man.

  Stop perving over him and you won’t!

  But how not to? The man is gorgeous and perfect for the old me I’ve been trying to supress all these years, and my untouched vagina knows it, too. The first dream was tame compared to the others, and that’s horrible because I’d been dreaming of his hand on me, in me, and giving me so much pleasure that for the first time in forever I actually got off before the dream ended.

  That in and of itself is a miracle, because even in college I’d woken up before the grand finale every time. Doesn’t say much, not when my dreams had starred my lackluster boyfriends and hadn’t left me aching the way I am now.

  Do not ache for your kidnapper, Ellie, it’s a bad idea. You know it’s dangerous. That way lies risk and the probability that you’re getting killed.

  My biggest hurdle is that after one lousy day of his company, I just can’t see a man like Wyatt being the bad guy. The bad boy, yes, but nothing at all like Bolton was, and definitely not the type of man who’ll hurt me or rape me.

  Nothing about this scenario fits, and that’s what’s got me hopping in my head.

  If I believe him and my instincts, it’s possible that he’s telling the truth and that he just wants me. Unbelievable. Why would a man like Wyatt want a woman like me? I mean, I’m not a dog or anything, but I’m no supermodel.

  Didn’t your alarm bells ring loud and clear the first time you met Bolton Conrad? Didn’t you know from that first slimy handshake that he was no good?

  I’d known and steered clear, really not paying enough attention after that to realize I had a real problem with him until the phone calls and the “gifts” had started arriving.

  By that time, it was too late and I’d had no defence. I hadn’t saved any of the texts or messages, and the gifts were considered harmless by the police.

  Besides, stalking laws are a bitch in a lot of states, and Philly had been no different. By the time one detective took me seriously, Bolton had me in his clutches and I was screwed.

  Pulling myself away from those memories with difficulty, I finally snap to attention and look around. I’m alone and free of the handcuffs, able to stand up and move around.

  I rush to the door and almost start doing a happy dance when the latch turns easily and the wooden door creaks open.

  I peek my head around the door and look out at the corridor. Empty. Good. Since I didn’t undress last night and my shoes are easy to slip into, it’s a matter of seconds before I’m easing my way into the hall and tiptoeing my way down it.

  The coast is clear with not a sound to alert me of his nearness, and I take the opportunity to hotfoot it toward the stairs. I don’t slow down until I’ve reached them, and another peek around the wall shows the foyer is unoccupied.

  Now all I need to do is get out of the house at a point that’s not in clear sight of the windows and run like hell. I’ve done this before, only that time I had to chew through my rope bindings and make my way out of the cellar I was in.

  Not now, don’t think about it now, I warn, tiptoeing down the stairs, my senses on high alert.

  The front door is a no-go and I know it, because if Wyatt was being honest, and I have no reason to believe he wasn’t, I still have guards to get past undetected.

  For that reason, I turn left at the bottom of the stairs, run silently all the way to what looks to be a huge library crammed with books and to a window at the far end.

  We’re still in the south, I can feel it the moment I open the window and the humid air hits me. What I hate seeing when I look out is all the open grass before the tree line starts. I’ll have to run a few too many meters out in the open before hitting cover, but what other option do I have?

  At least it isn’t the dry desert like last time. Remember—

  Shut up!

  I won’t think about that suffering or how a part of me regretted escaping when my thirst and the heat became so great, I was delusional and stumbling around in pain.

  If I do, I don’t know that I’d have the courage to climb out of the window and run. Almost dying that way, all that pa
in and suffering, only to have him snatch my weak body up again and drag me back…

  I won’t think about that now. Instead, I ease the window up another notch, looking behind me nervously, and push a leg over the sill. When I hop down and crouch behind the growth of bushes below the window I’m terrified and almost winded by the shallow, nervous breaths huffing out of me.

  You can do it, El, just run. Run and keep running till you’re safe.

  I obey and dart forward, my eyes trained on the tree line ahead, and my legs hit their stride. I make the wood in a matter of minutes and burst forward through the dense foliage so common to forested areas in the swamplands of the south.

  No one yells or comes running, so I’m almost giddy with victory when another five minutes of running takes me farther and farther away from my prison.

  All I have to do now is keep going till I reach a road or another house and then I’ll be home free.

  Take that, Wyatt, I yell inside my head, doing a mental fist pump.

  And to think he actually scared me with all that talk of security and the impossibility of escaping.

  Thinking of him now slows me somewhat, and I experience what feels oddly like regret at the thought of leaving him. Okay, I’ll admit it, part of me likes the man and his good-humored quirkiness, and even is tempted to stay.

  This same part of me had actually believed him about keeping me safe, even from myself. If I get free of this, I’ll move, obviously, and just go back to my life as it was, with a lot more paranoia and fear, but back all the same.

  Do I really want to return to being that ghost of myself after the way he treated me yesterday, making me feel special despite the incessant doubts and fear plaguing me?

  No, but whether I do or not, the fact still remains that regretting leaving him is stupid. He’s nuts, crazy, totally out of his mind thinking I’d ever trust him.

  Don’t you, El? Didn’t you fall asleep in his arms last night and have the best night’s sleep in years?

  Shut up!

  No, you need to face this shit and deal, girl. You’ve turned into an idiot who sleeps three hours a night, if you’re lucky, and won’t even eat something nice because you don’t think you deserve it.